Winter Storm Athena Blows Into East Lyme, Old Lyme, and Lyme

No sooner have we said goodbye to Hurricane Sandy than winter storm Athena busts through the door. This is a fullblown Nor'easter and it's going to have the greatest impact on the coast.

What started out as light rain is now turning into snow, which is predicted to start in earnest after 5 p.m.—just in time for the afternoon commute—and stay with us until 10 p.m. Snowfall could become heavy at times before it turns back to rain.

The temperatures this afternoon and this evening are around 38 degrees but it's going to feel about 12 degrees colder thanks to the wind chill. The overnight low will drop to 36 degrees. 

The biggest threat is from high winds, which will be blowing north at 36 mph tonight with occasional gusts up to 60 mph early this evening, according to weather.com. Strong winds have already caused power outages from New York to Massachusetts, so keep that flashlight handy. 

The National Weather Service has issued three alerts for our area. There's a coastal flood warning in effect until 7 p.m. tonight, a coastal flood advisory from Thursday at 4 a.m. until 7 a.m., and a high wind warning until tomorrow at 4 a.m. Expect a storm surge of 2 to 4 feet on Long Island Sound. 

Stay home if you can. There are no student activities scheduled for East Lyme tonight and Lyme-Old Lyme School District has canceled both Board of Education meetings that were scheduled for this evening. State police reported two car rollovers within an hour of each other at about 4 p.m., so do be careful on the roads. If you lose power, report outages to CL&P (800) 286-2000.